Life is ....

I used to say that the life is not so easy. And I realize that it is getting easier instead  as I became Koreisha, a young-old person officially classified so by the government. I often question the common practice here in the society, where people are so keen about the date of birth and the profession. It is usually a must practice to indiate both when people send a contribution to a newspaper, for example. I wonder where such a practice has come from. The vertically-structured society of this country may have something to do with it. People are so scared  or shy of making any mistake about selecting suitable honorifics or deferentials for some one to talk to. One good example is that a group of newly-met Japanese takes some time before they start their conversation. They have to have a traditional ceremony of exchanging each individual card indicating their company names and their titles there. Now they can speak, but their next task is to find out or guess ages of others in the group. For Koreisha generation such a traditional ceremoney has no meaning. I　carry no card any more with me. I've forgotten my birth date. I am now a house husband, motorcyclist, singer in a male choir, and finally cello player.